


a bit of extra warmth

by cantfoolajoker (lichmutual)



Category: Persona 3
Genre: A birthday fic for Shinji's birthday!, Aragaki Shinjiro Lives, Backstory, Birthday, Ficlet, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lichmutual/pseuds/cantfoolajoker
Summary: Shinjiro Aragaki receives a birthday gift from his friends; one time before he left and one time after.
Relationships: Aragaki Shinjiro & Kirijo Mitsuru, Aragaki Shinjiro & Kirijo Mitsuru & Sanada Akihiko, Aragaki Shinjiro & Sanada Akihiko
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	a bit of extra warmth

**Author's Note:**

> had the muse burst to write this for shinjiro's birthday since it's related to it. hope its enjoyable!

“What is this?” 

“It’s a gift,” Mitsuru answered, crossing her arms over her chest in the same manner she always did to void herself of emotion. Akihiko stood next to her, a classic large grin on his face as he watched their mutual friend.

“It’s your birthday, Shinji,” he said, and Shinjiro huffed.

“I know it’s my birthday,” Shinjiro told them, frowning. How could he forget when Akihiko seemed to always remember it for him?

The neatly wrapped gift sat on the dining table in the middle of the dorm, right next to some take out and a small cake with neat handwriting spelling out his name and _Happy 16th Birthday_.

The first year nodded his head toward the array and opened his mouth to speak, to question them why —

“We’re not going to let you cook on your birthday, Shinjiro,” Mitsuru informed him, and there was a hint of a smile on her features, amusement at his assumption.

“.....Tsk.”

“Come on, open your gift already!” Akihiko told him, clenching his hands into fists, the most excited of the trio with his raised voice.

“Alright, alright — don’t yell at me!”

“I’m not yelling!”

“Stop raising your voices,” Mitsuru ordered, and the two obeyed immediately, closing their mouths.

Shinjiro moved closer to the table and the gift, still frowning. He didn’t know what they could have gotten him; he didn’t even remind them of his birthday. His hands moved to undo the ribbon and open the box, mind running through every option he could think of before he pulled out an article of clothing.

“You said you outgrew your old winter coat, yes?” Mitsuru asked, both her and Akihiko’s eyes on Shinjiro as he pulled a very nice maroon coat from the box.

“I — did, yeah,” Shinjiro answered, surprised. “This is… really nice. How much did it cost —”

“It’s your gift, Shinji,” Akihiko repeated. “C’mon, try it on!”

The coat was a bit big on him, like it was waiting for another growth spurt or two to be fully filled out. “We purchased it a few sizes up so you could have it for a longer period of time,” Mitsuru explained. “You can adjust the parts with the buckles on it.”

After messing around with the adjustments, Shinjiro’s hands fit comfortably into the pockets of the coat as if they had found their new home. “...So?” He asked, looking between them both.

“You look great, Shinji!” Akihiko told him, roughly patting his shoulder, which earned him a swat in return.

Mitsuru let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with her hand as she hid her smile and amusement. “It does suit you well, Shinjiro.”

Shinjiro felt his face begin to heat up under the compliments. “Alright, let’s — start eating already, don’t want this food to go to waste.”

And so the three did settle down to eat, talking about things they normally discussed during dinner. The normalcy eased Shinjiro, and later that night in his room, he carefully hung up his new coat and admired it once more, a rush of fondness consuming him as he held a smile on his face in the privacy of his own room that they had remembered.

* * *

…

* * *

“What is this?”

“It’s a gift,” Mitsuru told him, rolling her eyes. “Aragaki, we do this song and dance every year. Just accept it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Shinjiro retorted, giving a playful challenging gaze… and backed off immediately at the glare Mitsuru gave him.

“You really wanna get executed on your birthday, Shinji?” Akihiko asked him, setting the present on the edge of the hospital bed.

“Not really, no.”

“Just accept the gift,” Mitsuru ordered with a sigh, closing her eyes and putting her head down in what could only be read as disappointment.

Shinjiro took the present from Akihiko, settling back into his bed and slowing undoing the ribbon. There wasn’t any food, as Shinjiro was still on a hospital diet so they could get him readjusted from being malnourished after years of improper eating. He could only guess so much since he’d genuinely forgotten what the date was until they came in and told him, holding a nicely wrapped box for him.

“You complained so much about your old coat getting ruined that we bought you a new one,” Akihiko told him, chuckling and grinning as Shinjiro pulled out a deep purple coat.

Shinjiro blinked in surprise, opening his mouth to speak — 

“Don’t worry about the price, Aragaki,” Mitsuru told him, much more gentle as she crossed her arms over her chest, settling into her classic pose.

“....Thanks.”

Shinjiro allowed himself to smile, a fond one that he normally reserved for his own privacy that no one could see.

“You know Shinji really likes it when he smiles,” Akihiko joked, having moved to stand back to bump elbows with Mitsuru.

Mitsuru chuckled as Shinjiro’s smile turned into a scowl. “I’m not gonna give you anythin’ to smile about when I get out of here,” he told him pointedly.

“Oh yeah? Is that a challenge?”

“You bet your ass it is.”

Internally, Shinjiro was thankful for his friends, and once they left he hung the coat up with his change of clothes. 

He stood, admiring it once more, and allowed himself to smile again.


End file.
